2.25 Use quotation mark-up for quotations, but not for formatting
Contents
WAI checkpoint 3.7
Full WAI text: "Mark up quotations. Do not use quotation mark-up for formatting effects such as indentation." HTML allows you to mark-up quotations from external sources and publications. These will then be displayed in an appropriate way.
Text which is a quotation should be marked up as a quotation, rather than having quote marks and indentation specified as attributes. Text which is not a quotation should not be marked up as a quotation for the sake of visual presentation. For example, you should not mark-up text as a quotation as a means of displaying it within quotation marks.
Rationale
Correct use of the quotation mark-up can break the page into chunks of content which helps users to read content more easily on-screen.
Some screen readers will read content assigned as a quotation in a different tone of voice, providing users with important clues about document structure. Misusing quotation attributes will therefore confuse screen reader users.
Directions and Techniques
Use "Q" and "BLOCKQUOTE" elements for inline and block quotations, respectively.
The "Q" tag should be used within a paragraph to quote a direct source. The "BLOCKQUOTE" tag should be used for longer quotes, which are "blocked" or indented from the page margins. See the WAI recommended techniques for Marking up quotations
How you could check for this:
There are no specific test methods recommended for this guideline.
Guidelines for Web Accessibility - Priority 2- 2.1 Ensure that images have sufficient contrast for people with colour deficient vision
- 2.2 Avoid causing content to blink
- 2.3 Avoid movement in content
- 2.4 Ensure that dynamic content is accessible or provide an alternative presentation or page
- 2.5 Use style sheets to control layout and presentation
- 2.6 Use relative rather than absolute units
- 2.7 Use header elements to convey structure
- 2.8 Break up large blocks of information where appropriate
- 2.9 Ensure that information laid out using tables make sense when linearised, or provide an alternative equivalent
- 2.10 Do not use structural mark-up to format information laid out using tables
- 2.11 Describe the purpose of frames and how they relate to each other if it is not obvious by their titles alone
- 2.12 Clearly identify the target of each link
- 2.13 Provide information about pages and sites in metadata
- 2.14 Provide information about the general layout of a site
- 2.15 Use navigation mechanisms consistently
- 2.16 Associate labels explicitly with their controls
- 2.17 Properly position the labels of form controls
- 2.18 Ensure that user interfaces are device-independent
- 2.19 Use logical event handlers in scripts
- 2.20 Use input device-independent event handlers in scripts and applets
- 2.21 Ensure that scripts and applets are accessible
- 2.22 When an appropriate markup language exists, use markup rather than images to convey information
- 2.23 Create documents that validate to published formal grammars
- 2.24 Mark up lists and list items using the proper HTML tags
- 2.25 Use quotation mark-up for quotations, but not for formatting
- 2.26 Where possible, use appropriate W3C technologies of the latest supported versions
- 2.27 Avoid deprecated features of W3C technologies
- 2.28 Do not periodically auto-refresh pages
- 2.29 Do not use mark-up to redirect pages automatically
- 2.30 Do not generate pop-ups or other windows and do not change the current window without informing the user
